After videos of Black women in labor being refused care by hospitals across the country went viral, Rep. Robin Kelly (D-Ill.) is seeking change.
On Tuesday (Nov. 25), Kelly introduced the WELLS Act, or the Women Expansion for Learning and Labor Safety Act. The bill is named after Mercedes Wells, an Illinois woman who was in labor and then told to go home from Franciscan Health Crown Point in Indiana.
Wells would give birth to her fourth child eight minutes after being sent home in her husband’s truck.
“Mercedes’s courage to speak out and push for change knows no bounds,” Kelly said in a statement to NBC News. “Her bravery and advocacy will help other moms receive the care and treatment they deserve.”
Wells told NBC that she had not seen a doctor at the hospital after calling and letting hospital staff know that her contractions were ten minutes apart. After six hours in labor, a nurse checked on her and then sent her home.
Both the nurse and doctor involved in the incident are no longer with the hospital, according to a statement by Franciscan Health President and CEO Raymond Grady.
The WELLS Act would require any hospital that provides obstetric, emergency, or labor and delivery services to have a “Safe Discharge Labor Plan before discharging a patient who presents with signs or symptoms of labor.” It would also mandate racial bias training for health care professionals.
Kelly plans to introduce the bill on the House floor once the legislature returns from Thanksgiving.
“My bill aims to address systematic issues around maternal care, racial disparities, and hospital accountability,” Kelly said. “It’s clear that what happened to Mercedes isn’t an isolated incident, nor is it the first time a Black woman’s pain has been ignored.”
The bill is not the first Kelly has introduced in the name of maternal health. In 2022, Congress passed the Maternal Health Quality Improvement Act and in 2021, Kelly reintroduced the Mothers and Offspring Mortality and Morbidity Awareness Act.
Health care experts have long been vocal about the disparity in health care for Black women as they have the highest maternal mortality rate and are more likely to die from childbirth than any other race, according to data provided by the CDC.
